Equity release cash gifts most likely in North and London regions

04 April 2009 / by Rachael Stiles

There are significant regional differences in homeowners' reasons for taking out an equity release plan, according to analysis of the equity release market by Key Retirement Solutions.

The North of England and London are revealed to be the most generous regions when it comes to giving away some of the money they generated from equity release to members of their family.

For both Northern and London homeowners, 16 per cent gave their family some of the cash unlocked from their property.

Homeowners living in the North are also the most likely group to spend the money on making home improvements, with 69 per cent using some of their equity release cash for this purpose.

After the North, the North West and Yorkshire & Humberside are the most likely to spend the cash on improving their homes, with 67 and 66 per cent respectively using some of the money for this purpose.

People in the North are also more focussed on their lifestyles than homeowners from other regions of the UK, as the research found that more than half (58 per cent) spend some of the money they unlock from their homes through equity release for going on holiday.

In Northern Ireland it's a different story, however, as there, just 18 per cent of homeowners said that they used equity release to pay for a holiday.

Rather than splashing the cash on going away somewhere, those living in Northern Ireland are more likely to spend the money on repaying their debts, with more than two thirds (68 per cent) using equity release as a means of repaying their outstanding debts or mortgage.

Dean Mirfin, business development director at Key Retirement Solutions equity release, said, "It is interesting to see how the uses of equity release in many ways are common across the regions of the country, however it is equally interesting to note some of the notable differences when we look more closely at the results.

"The results do bear out the fact that there are significant changes within some regions," he said.